A meeting organized by the National Association of Tourist Agencies in Romania (ANAT) together with the Romanian Airports Association (AAR), with the participation of airlines and handling companies, was held at the Ramada Nord Hotel, with the aim of bringing the main players in the field of aviation and tourism to the same table and to find solutions to improve the experience of passengers traveling for tourism and other purposes. The meeting discussed a number of challenges faced by the aviation sector, such as flight delays and cancellations caused by limitations in airlines’ operational capacities and airport infrastructure during periods of high traffic. It also emphasized the need to improve the quality of services offered to passengers in order to reduce the discomfort caused by these problems, as well as to protect them in the event of airline bankruptcy, through ANAT’s initiative to create a guarantee fund for airline tickets. The data presented at the meeting underline the importance of this joint approach. In the first half of 2024, passenger traffic at Romanian airports increased by 4.9% compared to the same period in 2023 and by 10.5% compared to 2019, totaling approx. 24 million passengers. However, only 53% of European airports have returned to 2019 levels, a sign that the recovery is uneven. ANAT and AAR have emphasized their common interest in attracting more airlines to Romanian airports by opening new international routes and expanding the incoming segment. This initiative is seen as a way not only to support the development of Romanian tourism, but also to contribute to regional and national economic growth. “It is essential that we work together to bring significant improvements in the passenger experience, reducing flight delays and cancellations and ensuring a more efficient and modernized infrastructure. At the same time, we want to give passengers the reassurance that they will no longer lose money when an airline goes bankrupt, as happened recently with Blue Air, where over 250,000 people lost money. This money will not be recoverable, whereas if we had a functioning ticket guarantee fund, this would not have happened. We will make sure that this fund exists and becomes operational as soon as possible, together with the Guarantee Fund for package tours, so that tourists are fully protected against bankruptcy and insolvency, whether we are talking about agencies or airlines,” said Alin Burcea, President of ANAT. “Travel agencies, airports and airlines have a common goal, to create a pleasant experience for tourists and passengers in their travels. For the first time for our associations, we met to discuss aspects of each segment’s activity and find solutions to attract foreign tourists to Romania, and in the future, with the creation of the regional and national MDGs, we will all get involved in this activity so that we can reach our target of 10 million foreign tourists per year. We are still far from reaching our potential.
We can achieve this result by attracting new airlines, opening new routes and connecting Romania’s tourist cities with international airports in the target markets”, said Corina Martin, President of ANAT’s WCO Commission “However, one situation that we also find in Romania and the rest of Europe is related to domestic traffic. It is below 2019 levels. Probably also for economic reasons, but also because the pandemic has “moved” a lot of meetings online. Then there are the geo-political issues that have influenced flights, and are still influencing them today – the instability in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine. However, we are enjoying the advantage of having Schengen airspace. We expect a slight increase in traffic, because European passengers will perceive traveling to our country as a domestic flight. We want foreign tourists to come to Romania, but we consider it important that our cities promote themselves much more abroad”, summarized David Ciceo, President of AAR. The meeting was attended by over 50 representatives of ANAT member travel agencies with outgoing and business travel activity, of all Romanian airports and of charter airlines.